Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system network communications, and more particularly to information handling system mesh network power management.
Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Portable information handling systems empower end users to perform processing tasks on-the-go by integrating power, display and input/output resources into a portable housing. End users take advantage of such portability in an enterprise environment to move between locations for meetings with team members. End users essentially bring their office with them by having the information handling system available and interfaced with a wireless enterprise network. Wireless network communications provide access to email and enterprise data in real time, such as through 802.11 (b, g, n, a, ac and ax (in development)) compliant interfaces. Such interfaces generally operate in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands to support communication throughout a typical enterprise structure, such as 100 meters in a typical office building. A typical enterprise office will deploy multiple wireless access points (APs) throughout an office environment that support portable information handling system network communications. The APs are typically interfaced with Ethernet cabling and switches to communicate with server information handling systems that coordinate information flow.
Although APs are generally effective at supporting enterprise wireless communication needs, AP deployment and support comes at a cost. APs are installed and maintained in various locations of the enterprise environment, typically at elevated locations, such as at ceiling beams. Ethernet wiring and switches are deployed to support interactions between the APs. The physical infrastructure requires power and maintenance to ensure reliable operation. The APs typically remain on at all times to monitor for user requests so that power consumption during inactivity, such as after office hours, can add up. The wireless communications require channel control to manage radio signal interference between APs and multiple portable information handling systems that share the wireless networking bandwidth. End users often experience wide variations in network communication speed and reliability depending on the relative position of portable information handling systems and APs. For example, an AP in the area of a large meeting may become congested so that users in the area have intermittent service or, in some cases, no service at all.
One alternative to reliance on distributed APs is to provide shorter range wireless networking solutions at end user work spaces, such as docking stations that have high bandwidth 60 GHz wireless interfaces. One example is a WiGig interface that includes wireless local area network (WLAN) support compliant with 802.11 (ad and ay (in development)). The 60 GHz interface offers rapid data transfer over typical desktop ranges, such as ten to thirty meters, to support high bandwidth use cases, such as wireless display interfaces and video streaming. The shorter range of the 60 GHz wireless signal reduces interference in an enterprise environment and uses less power than longer range wireless local area network interfaces. If a docking station includes a hardwire Ethernet connection, the user has ready access to server resources as needed by routing WLAN communications through Ethernet based local area network (LAN) communications. However, the shorter range of WiGig 60 GHz WLAN tends to restrict communications during movement of the portable information handling system. In some situations, information handling systems coordinate communication in a mesh network that interfaces an information handling system with an access point by relaying network communications through a series of ad hoc or peer-to-peer interfaces. Such mesh networks through high bandwidth WLANs may offer enhanced network communication speeds, however, reliability of the interface and power consumption by the networking devices are important considerations for selecting a network path to perform communications. In some situations, the network path may include various combinations of 60 GHz, 5 Ghz and 2.4 Ghz communication links. In some instances, the network path may include network nodes that do not communicate with WLANs, such as nodes that communicate with wireless wide area networks (WWAN) supported by mobile telephone service providers or even wireless personal area network (WPAN) interfaces like Bluetooth.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,088,859, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Connection Context Aware Radio Communication Management,” by Egner et al., and incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth, discloses selection of a network path by an information handling system for establishing communication through a mesh network of peer-to-peer interfaces to a network location. Once available mesh network paths are determined, the available network paths are analyzed to select a network path for establishing communication. For example, the available network paths are compared to select a network path having acceptable quality of service (QoS) for the communication needs of the information handling system. For example, QoS context across the nodes of each network path are aggregated and compared to select the network path having the best available QoS.